To reinforce that message and reduce the number of traffic accidents, the Cabinet’s Drive Smart Program will be coordinating the US 421 Safety Corridor Blitz during a weeklong effort beginning Sunday, July 8 in Clay, Harlan, Jackson and Leslie Counties.

The Division of Transportation Safety, Cumberland Valley Area Development District, Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement and local law enforcement are coordinating an Operation Drive Smart Enforcement Blitz along the US 421 Corridor. Law enforcement agencies in the four counties will aggressively patrol US 421 and will establish safety checkpoints along the highway in an effort to reduce vehicle crashes, injuries and fatalities. Officers will be looking for drivers committing offenses such as speeding, reckless driving, improper passing and driving under the influence.

Agencies that will be participating in the Blitz include Kentucky State Police, Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement, Jackson County Police and Sheriff’s Office, Clay County Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, Leslie Co. Police Department and Sheriff’s Office, Harlan County Police and Sheriff’s Office.

The safety corridor and blitz area begins at the Rockcastle/Jackson County line and extends to the Harlan/VA County line, a two-lane route with a speed limit of 55 mph and lower speed limits through the McKee, Manchester, Harlan, Hyden areas and any construction zones.

Portable visual speed radar units will be placed along the corridor in each county beginning July 2, to notify drivers of their speed and remind them to comply with the posted speed limit. Electronic message boards and orange diamond signs stating that drivers are in a “target enforcement area” will also be used to alert drivers to the enforcement emphasis.

The Enforcement Blitz is planned for the week of July 8. This operation will focus on reducing the extent of contributing factors involved in vehicle crashes such as speeding, improper passing and other aggressive, reckless and moving hazardous traffic violations.

“Violations such as failure to wear seat belts, improperly restraining children, having improper equipment or failure to have insurance will be strictly enforced during the blitz,” said Tim Hazlette, commissioner of the Department of Transportation Safety. “Our goal, however, is not just to write tickets, but to improve safety along the route,” Hazlette said.

The US 421 Corridor is one of 13 corridors identified for special emphasis in collision reduction through a data-driven process by the Governor’s Executive Committee on Highway Safety. Other initiatives that have been undertaken along the corridor include surveying high school students on their seat belt usage habits, installing signs reminding drivers to buckle up at the exits to high school campuses along the corridor and installing signs noting US 421’s designation as an official safety corridor. The goal of the highway safety program is to save lives, reduce fatalities, injuries and property damage crashes on Kentucky’s highways.